The bedroom musician was not a thing when I was in high school. Back then you still had to record to tape. Everything was difficult from splicing, to adding compression, to layering. It also cost a lot of money. These days all you need is a laptop, an audio interface and a basic DAW to get something going. Across college campuses students are in their dorms after making music in their bedrooms. One of those artists is E. M. Ferrell who recently released Sottosaga which is his first release.
The EP contains three instrumental songs. Like a lot of bedroom artists the bass and guitar seems to be recordings of organic instrumentation and the drums are in the digital domain. The EP begins with “The Damask Dealer.” He strums a C - A - A# progression which he stays on for the entire song. It’s backed up by a 4/4 beat and a lead guitar plays a C major scale. As the song progresses you can hear pads and what sounds like digital bells. Another lead guitar is added to the mix. The song is based on adding layers and he does it with a good degree of success. Up next is “I'm Trying to Be Patient” which follows a very similar pattern. He strums a basic chord progression and the lead guitar solos over it making it the focal point of the song. There is another lead guitar that comes in similarly to the previous song. You could say these two songs had similar foundations. Last up is “Seraphim.” He strums a couple power chords and all things considered this is very similar terrain to the previous songs with no real surprise. The artist apparently plays piano. I’d love to hear some of his future arrangement with piano added. These are simple compositions but catchy. He has a good ear for melody which is the strongest aspect of these songs. That being said adding more transition not just layers to his music is something to think about as well as working with additional musicians if he wants to open up some more possibilities. I thought this was a solid first release EP for an artist who by all accounts hasn’t been playing very long. I wish him luck as he evolves and I hope to hear more soon.
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